


Eternally Bound

by Xennie_B



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Community: tw_bigbang, Episode: s01e04 Cyberwoman, Ianto Jones: Immortal, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-31
Updated: 2010-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-09 19:59:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 20,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/90998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xennie_B/pseuds/Xennie_B
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto is zapped by an alien artefact that not only changes him but connects him to Jack who still hasn't forgiven him after Lisa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Torchwood_BigBang Challenge 2009

“What’s wrong with him?” 

“How could you do this?” 

_His head is pounding and he can’t focus on anything. _

“I don’t know what’s happening?” 

“Why’s he doing that?” 

_The voices drifting around him, so loud, almost shouting. _

“Quick help me hold him!” 

“This isn’t supposed to be happening.” 

_He opens his eyes and slams them shut again against the harsh light. _

“We have to do something!” 

“If he doesn’t survive... I will kill you.” 

_Something rough touches his arm and he thinks it’s supposed to be soothing but it just seems itchy against his skin. _

“I can’t work any faster if I don’t know what I’m looking at!” 

“Shit! Move!” 

_He wants to scream but his mouth feels like it’s full on cotton wool and there’s an almost overwhelming taste of blood coating his tongue. _

“He’s getting worse!” 

“Grab his arm!” 

_A needle pierces his skin and he can feel the liquid moving into his veins as his heart pumps it around his body and slowly everything starts to go black._   
  
"I'll fix this Ianto, I promise."


	2. Chapter One

Jack walked out of his office and scanned the hub. "Where the hell is Ianto?" he demanded waiting for one of the others to answer.

Gwen looked up and him and shrugged unsure as Owen bellowed up from the autopsy bay "Who the hell cares!"

Tosh scowled at all three of them before turning back to her computer and continuing her work. Jack frowned at her reaction, but he should have expected it, it was becoming a familiar pattern between them since the incident with Ianto's cybernetic girlfriend.

"Toshiko?" Jack pushed walking over and standing behind her chair, resting a hand on her shoulder. She subtly shakes his hand off by turning to face him.

"He's doing what you told him to do; sorting out the archives. You've revoked his security codes Jack it's not like he can leave without one of us letting him out,” Tosh snapped trying to glare him down. Jack just stared back at her coolly, ignoring the fact that Owen and Gwen had both moved further into the room to watch them.

“Is there any particular reason you’re looking for him sir?” Tosh asked and Jack tried not to flinch at Tosh using that particular term, not only did it sound weird coming from the woman he’d considered a friend for the past four years, but it didn’t sound right without that smooth Welsh accent behind it.

“It’s almost lunchtime and it’s better to feed the rebels before they start getting hungry,” Jack said trying to ease the situation with a bit of humour. It didn’t work.

Tosh abruptly stood from her desk “I’ll go and find him then. God forbid any of you lazy _bakas_ order your own food for a change,” She snapped and before anyone could react she had left the room.

“What the bloody hell is up her ass. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve what he got or has she forgotten that he brought the cyberman in that tried to kill us a few days ago?” Owen growled walking up from where he had been watching the confrontation at the autopsy bay’s entrance.

“It was his girlfriend Owen; he was trying to save her. He loved her,” Gwen tried to reason but Owen was hearing nothing of it as he flopped into his seat with a snort.

“I’m sorry, now you’re on his side too? You’ve spent long enough on the sidelines, finally decided to pick a side have you? Are Jack and I the only one who see that the traitorous little bastard deserves everything he gets?”

“Enough! Both of you!” Jack snapped and with one final glare he stormed back into his office shutting the door with a little more force than was really necessary.

Slumping down into his chair he rested his head on the desk and tried to figure out just how he was supposed to fix the mess they’d all sunken into after the night that the Cyberwoman was destroyed.

Ianto looked up with a start when he heard someone walking through the archives towards him. The footfalls were definitely female; the sound of heeled boots on the cement gave that away. Listening carefully he determined that it was Tosh’s more delicate tread, rather than Gwen’s solid, copper stride and breathed a sigh of relief.

Tosh seemed to be the only one who wasn’t treating him like a monster. Even if he did deserve it.

Owen was just downright cruel. He’d find or create the nastiest jobs he could for Ianto and deliberately make things harder for him with his work, not to mention the very rough look over he’d received for his injuries after that night.

Gwen avoided him, whether that was because she didn’t know what to say or was afraid he’d do something to her he didn’t know.

And Jack... God, if he couldn’t mend things with Owen or Gwen he really couldn’t care less, but Jack. Jack who had treated him like nothing more than a foot soldier who needed to be punished... no hint of what they had been... of what he had betrayed... how was he ever going to fix that.

Tosh walked into the archives running through Ianto’s directions in her head knowing she would never find her way to his desk if she didn’t. 

Finally she turned the last corner and spotted the man she was looking for. He was hunched at his desk working, it almost looked like he just wanted to sink into his work and vanish like he had before the Lisa incident. He’d become so good at hiding and now when he wanted to most of all everyone was very aware of where he was.

His suits and professional mask were the only protection he had now and even they were failing him. Tosh suspected that she was the only one who noticed.

“Ianto are you busy?” Tosh asked softly worried she would startle the younger man; he didn’t even flinch, just turned to look at her with a slightly forced smile.

“Not at all Tosh, what can I get for you?”

His mask was firmly in place and Tosh had to bite back a sigh. God she hated this, why did Jack have to be so bloody cruel all of a sudden? Surely he could see that it wasn’t entirely Ianto’s fault? That he had honestly believed the woman he loved had still been alive. He truly hadn’t been able to see that only the body remained with a monster’s mind where his girlfriend had once been, a monster that had used his love to manipulate him in one of the worst possible ways.

“Umm, Jack was looking for you, it’s was getting close to Lunch...” Tosh watched as Ianto’s posture fell just a little as he was once again being degraded to fetch the others food. “...but if you’re busy I can go and get some for everyone.”

Ianto gave Tosh a smile and she knew he could see through what she was trying to do. “That’s alright Tosh, I’ll come up and sort something out; I wasn’t doing anything important.”

The pair made their way back through the archives in silence. Just before they reached the entrance to the main hub Ianto reached a hand out and gently grabbed Tosh’s arm, stopping them in the shadows before they would be seen by the others.

“Why?” Ianto whispered not looking at her, his eyes out on the hub before them.

Tosh paused, thinking about just what he was asking before she finally answered. “Because even if they can’t see it, I can. You didn’t do it on purpose, you didn’t do it to hurt anyone; you did it because you thought you were saving the woman you loved.”

“But I did hurt people. All of you,” Ianto whispered pain lacing his voice.

“No, the monster that had taken Lisa’s body hurt everyone. The monster hurt you and manipulated you until it could get free, then it hurt us. Not you,” Tosh argued.

Ianto nodded a little his eyes still locked on the hub beyond. Tosh squeezed his arm in support before moving back to her workstation, leaving him a moment to compose himself.

She knew she wasn’t supposed to hear it but she couldn’t help but catch Ianto’s last whisper before he headed towards the tourist office.

“But I did hurt Jack.”


	3. Chapter Two

Owen watched Ianto move around the hub silently delivering lunch to each of them. No one was in the mood for Lunch in the dining room so it had been silently agreed that they would all eat at their desks and keep ‘working’.

Tosh smiled and thanked him, even Gwen gave him a small tentative smile, Jack didn’t even react when his lunch was placed on his desk. Owen on the other hand had no problem sneering at the long man and snatching his food as far as he was concern the man was getting off too easily for what he had done and he was going to do something about that.

Gwen was used to observing people. It was part of her job as a cop and part of her job here at Torchwood. Normally it was only something she would put to use in the field, not wanting to intrude on her colleges lives unless needed, but right now the hub was like a battle ground and someone had to do something about it.

Owen had been right with his comment, she had been sitting the fence, but not for the reason he thought. She’d been watching; gauging reactions and even pulling up a bit of research not only on what UNIT and Torchwood knew about cybermen but on her colleges and their histories too.

The team needed to at least come to terms with what happened if they weren’t able to get over it, otherwise the team was likely to tear itself to shreds. She needed to work out how to help them and even if she couldn’t it would at least made her feel better to understand why they were acting the way they were.

Tosh was the easiest person to understand. Her own history of betrayal to save her mother made her understand Ianto’s decisions to save Lisa in a way that none of them ever would. She had taken on the role of Ianto’s protector since no one else would and was having to face some of her closest friends to do so. It was a loyalty that Gwen found overwhelming and at the same time she was slightly jealous that she did not have it herself.

Owen took a little longer to work out though eventually it all came down to Katie. Though whether it was because Ianto had managed to keep Lisa around for longer after the ‘alien’ had got into her or whether his bitterness was because of his inability to save Ianto from a similar fate to his own. It could have been either, or a combination of both, but whatever it was it was making Owen lash out at Ianto as a way of dealing with these feelings.

Jack was a mystery though. She had no idea why he was reacting so badly to what had happened. There was next to no personal information on the man but there were enough records of how he’d dealt with similar betrayals in the past. Betrayal’s that had a real reason like love or family, no matter how strong the betrayal were forgiven, though the trust had to be earned again through time and work. A betrayal for self gain was punished. So why, when Ianto’s was clearly for a good reason was Jack punishing him.

Owen stared at the device in his hand, he’d pulled it from the archives himself while Ianto had been doing some work up in the tourist office, under Jack’s surveillance of course. It was a tiny piece of tech and Jack claims it’s used as a toy for some species on the other side of the galaxy. But for them, for humans, it had an entirely different affect and not a very pleasant one.

Finishing his lunch he added his rubbish to the collection on the table where the other had left theirs. Making sure no one was watching him he slipped the piece of tech into standby mode and placed it amongst the rubbish. Everyone was busy and it was Ianto’s job to clean up after them so there was a pretty safe chance that none of the others would touch his little surprise. No, it would be Ianto to find the tech and Owen would watch in amusement as the Tea-boy gets what he deserves.

\----------

Ianto stopped in the doorway of Jack’s office and knocked softly on the door. He wouldn’t just enter as he once had; he knew he didn’t deserve that privilege after what he’d done. Waiting patiently, Jack eventually signaled for him to enter, not looking up from his work.

Ianto sighed softly before entering the room, Jack barely spoke to him anymore and now he wouldn’t even look at him. Of all the ‘punishments’ he was receiving, this part was what hurt the most.

“Sir I was just wondering if you needed me for anything else before I head back down to the archives,” Ianto said trying not to care that Jack didn’t even bother to look up when he answered him.

“No that’s fine. I need you to archive that piece of tech there,” Jack said waving in the vague direction of his filing cabinet. There sitting on the top was the piece of tech that had fallen through the rift yesterday.

“What would you like it filed under sir?” Ianto asked taking the tech into his hand.

“It’s an illegal DNA modification unit. But it uses a specific type of power which isn’t here on Earth so it’s harmless as long as it stay away from anything made by the Kanatians,” Jack said still filling out his paperwork. It’s probably the only time Ianto had seen him concentrating that hard on paperwork. Usually he was more than enough of a distraction to get Jack to ignore him work.Ianto nodded though Jack wouldn’t see it and quietly left the room with the tech, what he didn’t see was Jack look up to watch him leave with a pained expression.


	4. Chapter Three

Tosh had been watching the two men interact through the open office door and it was blaringly obvious when you looked at them that something else was going on. She just couldn’t figure out what it was and Jack was still being an ass about the whole situation.

She was just about to go in there and yell at him when Ianto made his way out and she caught a pained look on Jack’s face as he watched the younger man walk away.

That look broke Tosh’s resolve from burning anger, to sad and slightly worried curiosity. She’d known Jack longer than any of them and she’d never seen that look on his face before.

Picking up her coffee she walked into Jack’s office and gently closed the door. He was staring blankly at his paperwork and didn’t even notice her until she’d taken a seat opposite him at his desk and loudly cleared him throat.

Jack’s head snapped up and he gaped at her in surprise before quickly slipping back behind his captain mask.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tosh asked slipping her coffee trying to make it as casual as possible.

“Talk about what?” Jack feigned ignorance and Tosh snorted at him in annoyance.

“You know what I’m talking about. I don’t understand why you’re treating Ianto so badly. You make it seem like this is his punishment for Lisa but it not there’s something more to it that you’re not telling us.”

“What makes you say that?” Jack asked casually leaning back, looking for all the world like a father who’s just entertaining his mischievous daughter.

“The look on your face as you watched Ianto leave,” Tosh said and watched triumphantly as she wiped that smirk right off his face before she continued, “we’ve worked together a long time Jack, you’re the closest friend I have and I’ve never seen you look like that before.”

Jack sighed rubbing a hand across his face; he looked out the window of his office into the main area of the hub. Tosh followed his gaze and this time she wasn’t surprised to see it was on Ianto. The younger man had his head down trying to be invisible as he cleaned around the sitting area, tidying up after them like he always did.

Jack opened his mouth a few times but nothing came out. Running a hand through his hair in frustration he turned away from the window and back to Tosh.

“Ianto and I were together,” He blurted out and Tosh couldn’t help the dumbfounded look that must have been plastered on her face.

“Like dating?” Tosh asked.

“Not in the conventional sense. We were sleeping together, we’d stay up late and talk, have dinner together, always at the hub never anywhere else, just spent a lot of time together after you lot had gone home for the night.”

“Sounds like you were dating to me,” Tosh sighed beginning to understand just what was going on.

“I guess, but all that time he had her locked in the basement. He probably finished talking to me and went down to be with her.” Jack replied staring into space as he carefully tried to hide his response.

“Do you love him?” Tosh asked.

“I don’t do love and relationships Tosh, they hurt too much,” Jack replied bitterly.

Tosh wondered about his wording a little but he was still too quick to deny it. Jack either had been or was falling in love with Ianto he just wasn’t willing to admit it to himself or anyone else.

“He does regret it; what happened and hurting you. I’ve heard him mutter things, not just today but ever since Lisa when he thinks no one is listening. While none of it made sense then, it does now. He hates what’s happened between you two and I think he really likes you Jack. He just wants to be able to make it up to you somehow and try to fix the damage that’s been done,” Tosh said finally able to put the pieces she’d heard from Ianto into context and it all made a lot more sense.

Both of them had developed feelings for each other, both deeper than either of them had planned. Both of them were hurting so badly at the moment and neither knew what to do.

“Is that really what you believe Tosh?” Jack asked a note of hope in his voice as he finally looked at her again.

“I don’t just believe it, I know.”

Jack sighed rubbing his hand over his face. “I just don’t know if it can be fixed Tosh. What happened wasn’t exactly a small thing you know.”

“I know but it’s worth a try isn’t it?”

“It is. But not yet, I’m not ready to forgive him just yet. I’m too angry; I need to calm down more before I can even think about it.”

Tosh stood up reaching across the desk she gently squeezed Jack’s hand where it rested on top of his paperwork.

“Just don’t leave it too long. You’ll regret it if you miss out,” Tosh said and with that she left the office leaving Jack to dwell on the thoughts and feelings that were not running rampant through his head. 

\----------

Picking up the piece of tech Jack gave him from where he’d left in next to the coffee machine Ianto made his way back to the workstations. He’d almost finished cleaning and was about to head back down to the archives to continue his work he just had to clean up the lunch mess.

“Has everyone finished with their lunches?” Ianto asked though he didn’t expect an answer. Tucking the piece of tech under his arm, Jack had said it was useless after all so there was no need to watch handling procedures for it, he began to collect the rubbish.

 “Yes, thank you Ianto, it was very nice,” Ianto looked up at Gwen in surprise. It was the most she’d said to him since Lisa and he knew she’d been trying to work out how she felt about the whole thing. Apparently she’d decided and if her gap toothed smile was anything to go by she wasn’t holding too much against him. Offering her a small smile Ianto nodded to her, both in reply and thank you.

Owen who was sitting at his desk watching them snorted in disgust and Gwen threw a glare in his direction as Ianto lowered his head and ignored him.

Tosh gently squeezed his shoulder as she walked past him and moved to her desk to finish her work. Ianto briefly wondered what she and Jack had been talking about behind the closed door but quickly got rid of the thought; it was none of his business. Casting a quick look in Jack’s direction he could see the older man staring at his CCTV monitors in deep concentration.

Ianto quickly got back to work not wanting to be caught staring by any of them, least of all Jack. Picking up the rubbish off the table he noticed a small blue device amongst the dishes, it looked familiar but he couldn’t figure out why, though as it was lying around amongst the dishes it was obviously a bit of harmless tech and probably just needed to be put away.

\----------

Jack watched Ianto on the CCTV as he moved about the hub cleaning. No one else could see the monitors from their workstations and he’s see them approach his door in time to cover up what he was doing.

Tosh was right, he knew she was, but he had no idea how to fix his relationship with Ianto. For all he knew it was already too late, though he hoped it wasn’t.

He watched as Ianto stared at him through his office door and it took all of his willpower not to turn and meet the younger man’s eyes. Instead he kept his eyes locked on the screens in front of him. Ianto stared at him a while longer then with a soft sigh he went back to his work.

Maybe it wasn’t too late after all.

Ianto paused in his work and frowned down at something on the table. Jack could see something there but not what it was. With a few key strokes on his computer the camera zoomed in on the table. Seeing just what was on the table Jack felt as if ice had shot through his veins. He saw Ianto reach for the device and was out of his chair and headed for the door in a second.

“Ianto! Don’t!”

\----------

Ianto heard Jack call out to him but it was too late his hand had already touched the device.

What looked like blue electricity spread across his body leaving a numb tingle in its wake. His knees turned to jelly and he began to crumple towards the ground. As he went down a new feeling began, the alien device Jack had given him earlier began to heat up and quickly pulse before burning pain erupted throughout Ianto’s body.

What probably lasted only a minute or two, felt like hours as Ianto opened his mouth and screamed out in agony. Strong hands caught and held him as he began to fall into darkness.


	5. Chapter Four

Jack caught Ianto just as he began to fall to the ground. Burning heat burst through him from where he was touching Ianto and then everything stopped. They stopped falling as they hit the ground, Ianto stopped screaming as he passed out and the pain stopped leaving only a tingling feeling in its wake. The team were staring at them in shock as he sat on the ground holding a groaning, trembling Ianto in his arms.

"Ianto? Ianto are you okay?" Jack asked trying to shift them into a better position than the way they had landed.

When he got no answer fear worked itself deep into his heart glancing down at the two objects Ianto had dropped that fear turned to ice.

"What the hell are you all just standing there for? Move!!" Jack snapped at his still startled team.

Owen and Tosh were at his side in an instant helping him to move Ianto into a more comfortable position so Owen could check his vitals.

Gwen went to pick up the device Ianto was carrying.

"Don't touch them!" Jack snaps and she leapt back like she's been burnt.

"They're harmless Jack; we've all run tests and handled them before," Tosh assured him trying to sound calm amongst all the chaos.

"Separately maybe, together they do this!" Jack growls running his hand across Ianto's forehead feeling the sweat and heat radiating off him.

"What do you mean?" Owen asked not stopping his work on Ianto.

"Why the hell is that thing even out here?" Jack countered beginning to suspect just who had left it lying around.

"We need to get him to the medical bay," Owen replies and Jack quickly scoops Ianto up into his arms to carry him. "It was a trick Jack; I just wanted to scare him a little. We've tested it before; it only makes you numb for a few hours," Owen continues as he walks along side Jack, ready to help or move anything out of the way if he needs to.

Jack gently places Ianto on the autopsy table before turning around and slamming Owen up against the closest wall.

"If I ever see or hear of you doing something that stupid to _anyone _on this team I will have your ass retconned and on the street."

"He's done worse, or are you forgetting that his tin girlfriend tried to kill us?!" Owen hissed trying to get away from Jack, but he couldn't break the stronger grip no matter how much he tried.

"Not on purpose, and certainly not to purposefully hurt us. That device's energy triggered the piece of tech he was already holding. It's a medical device that's used to repair DNA. You triggered it without programming it so there's no telling what it will do!" Jack snapped

Jack could hear Gwen and Tosh's terrified gasps behind him, Ianto was still groaning in pain and Owen had turned deathly pale as the reality of his actions began to sink in. "You better hope you can help him," Jack growls pushing Owen in the direction of Ianto.

Owen hurries to Ianto’s side and begins working, scanning him with as many devices as he can while Tosh runs his blood work and Jack and Gwen stand and watch from the side of the room.

Gwen is clinging to Jack's arm, whether it's for comfort or to comfort him Jack doesn't know. All his attention is focused on the man in front of him on the table. Thinking that the last thing he could have said was a cold distant order.

Ianto begins to thrash around on the table and Jack instantly steps forward, trying to hold him so he can't hurt himself.

"What's wrong with him?" Gwen asks, fear lacing her voice as she stands there terrified for all of her friends but unable to help.

"How could you do this?" Tosh hisses at Owen who looks the picture of guilt and misery as he tries to figure out what his scans are showing him.

"I don't know what's happening," Owen admits looking helplessly into Jack's furious gaze.

“Why’s he doing that?” Gwen whispered drawing everyone’s attention to Ianto’s hand where he was clenching and unclenching in on the side of the autopsy bed as if in pain, his knuckles going white from the movement.

As they began to watch Ianto began to thrash around again violently.

“Quick help me hold him!” Owen order swearing under his breath as Ianto’s knee connected with his ribcage. Owen went to catch Ianto’s legs, while Gwen caught his arms and Jack held him around the chest trying to support his head so it didn’t smack against the table.

“This isn’t supposed to be happening!” Tosh said sadly, they should never have to watch one of their own go through something this horrific, though in Torchwood they were all at risk. Tosh moved around the table securing the padded straps to the table before wrapping them securely around Ianto. For a moment Tosh thought saw Ianto’s eyes open but it was so quick she assumed she’d imagined it and continued with her task.

“We have to do something!” Gwen said her voice full of worry and upset as Tosh finished securing the last strap and they stepped back to give Owen room to work.

As Owen passed by them Jack’s hand snapped out and tightly caught the doctor’s arm. “If he doesn’t survive... I will kill you,” Jack hissed not taking his eyes off the pale Welshman on the table.

Stepping forward Jack grabs one of the stools and sits beside Ianto rubbing the younger man’s arm soothingly, not caring what the rest of the team thought.

“I can’t work any faster if I don’t know what I’m looking at,” Owen whispers, Jack pretend not to hear him as Tosh and Gwen exchange worried looks.

Ianto begins to trash on the table once more.  “Shit! Move!” Owen snapped pushing Jack out of the way ignoring the angry snap he got in return.

“He’s getting worse!” Jack says fear lacing his voice.

Everyone jumps in shock and Gwen has to bite back as scream as Ianto snapped the brace holding his arm. “Grab his arm!” Owen ordered rushing to one of his cabinets and pulling out a vial. Owen quickly filled a syringe from the vial as Jack caught Ianto’s arm.

While Jack held his arm steady, Owen slid the needle into Ianto’s vein and depressed the plunger. Everyone held their breath and watched as Ianto began to calm.

“I’ll fix this Ianto, I promise,” said Owen watching the monitor as Ianto’s vitals showed him slipping into a sedated sleep.

Seeing Ianto was calm for the moment Jack rushed back into the main area of the hub to fetch the piece of Tech in case it could help in some way.

“What did you give him?” Gwen asked.

“A really strong sedative, one I’ve only ever had to use on Jack before,” Owen explained.

“Jack?” Gwen asked eye wide, glancing in the direction the captain had run off on.

“Something in his metabolism makes sedative less effective to him. He needs something stronger that the average person,” Owen explained distractedly as he fetched the blood results his scanner had just printed out.

“Why didn’t you give it to him before?” Tosh asked confused.

“I _did_ give him a sedative before but it had no effect; When I saw him snap that restraint I knew he needed something stronger, it was only a guess that Jack’s sedative would work,” Owen shrugged frowning over the results on the paper; they weren’t making a whole lot of sense.

There was a crash and a lot of swearing from the depths of the hub before and upset looking Jack appeared device in hand.

“I know what it’s done,” Jack announced. “Since it wasn’t programmed before it was activated it’s mutating his DNA to match another specimen it has been in contact with.”

“What specimen?” Owen demanded reaching for the device.

“There’s no record anymore, it’s gone,” Jack replied evasively moving the device out of Owen’s reach.

“Do you want me to try and retrieve the data?” Tosh asked eyeing Jack carefully not sure what to make of his reaction.

“No Tosh, I don’t want any of you handling it just in case there’s still enough energy in it to reactivate,” Jack warned.

“So why are you holding it then?” Owen snorted reaching again for the device only for Jack to move it out of his reach again.

“How’s Ianto?” Jack asked changing the subject and the others wisely chose to leave it alone, for now.

“I don’t know, his system is going through a massive shock and his DNA is screwed up and still in a state of mutation though it looks like it’s beginning to stabilize. He shouldn’t go into any more seizures but I’m going to have to keep a very close eye on him to make sure his system doesn’t crash from the shock and stress it’s been put through,” Owen explained glad that his scans and test had finally begun to produce some results that he understood.

“So it’s not going to change him into an alien then? If most of the changes have already happened?” Gwen asked staring at the unconscious younger man as if trying to spot the changes.

“The device repairs DNA it doesn’t change species. It would have fixed any genetic problems.” Jack replied walking back into the autopsy bay to take a seat beside Ianto, device still in hand.

“But you said it mapped it off a previously stored DNA code...” Owen began confused.

“It used the stored DNA as a template to check for any problems, it’s highly unlikely that two random people have the same genetic problems,” Jack replied.

“I don’t know Jack, his tests are coming back like he’s been through a lot more than a few fix-its,” Owen sighed.

“I want you to watch him and as soon as he’s in the clear I’m taking him somewhere to recover. You lot can take care of things here while we’re gone. I’ll have UNIT on standby if you need extra help.”

“Wait a minute Jack you can’t just....” Owen began but fell silent as Jack threw an icy glare in his direction.

“You do not have the right to voice and opinion on the matter. Not after what you did.”

“But Jack...” Gwen began.

“No. You will do as I say and for once not question me. Tosh is in charge while I’m gone. You’ll be able to reach me on my mobile for consultation but that’s it. UNIT will supply you with the extra man power they owe me a few favours anyway. When I get back things better still be in one piece and then I will deal with you and your punishment,” Jack said the last part aimed at open. His voice and manner was all captain and no one was going to argue with him now.

Getting to his feet Jack gently brushed Ianto’s hair off his forehead before heading towards his office. He needed to pack both for him and Ianto plus make some phone calls to UNIT if his plans were going to work.


	6. Chapter Five

Ianto slowly stirred awake curled up in a warm, soft bed which felt nothing like his own. He could feel the expensive sheets against his skin as he sunk further into the warm comfort not wanting to awaken fully to the pain he knew was waiting.

After a few minute he could tell he wasn’t going to be able to stay asleep, the noise coming from somewhere nearby was loud enough to keep anyone awake.

His eyes were sore but the light in the room was dim so it didn’t hurt too badly as he slowly cracked them open and took in the strange surroundings. Looking around he realized he was in some sort of expensive hotel room, the there were no lights on and the thick blinds had been pulled shut. The only light in the room was the sun trying to come through the curtains casting a dull orange glow across the room.

A large plasma TV was mounted on the wall at the foot of the bed, mini bar beside it and a games console of some sort below with the DVD, Blu-ray and VCR. A walk in closet was tucked to one side of the room, and he could peek through another open door to see a sparkling en suite complete with Jacuzzi, which left the third door as an exit.

Climbing slowly from the bed he noticed his suit was gone and replaced with a pair of track suit pants and T-shirt, brand new by the feel of them since they’re a little rough against his skin. Heat spread across his cheeks at the thought of someone changing him.

His whole body ached, there was a bottle of pills on the bedside table but he didn’t trust the situation enough to take them. He slowly opened the door and peaked out. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see but it certainly wasn’t the scene in front of him.

The room beyond was a fairly large and expensively looking lounge and dining room. On the other side is a small, stainless steel decorated kitchenette. But sitting on one of the plush looking sofas flicking through a pile of paperwork and working away on a PDA was Captain Jack Harkness wearing the same outfit Ianto have seen him in earlier the only thing missing was his great coat which could be seen hanging on a hook by the door. Standing beside Jack waiting patiently was a tall elderly looking man, he looked very friendly but there was something about him that struck Ianto as not quite right.

The noise he could hear from the other room was even louder now, a tapping sort of noise followed by small beeps like a computer but there wasn’t one in sight. There was no rhythm to the taps or the beeps which meant it wasn’t a machine running itself, there had to be a human implement to it. Pushing that thought to the side for the moment Ianto focused on Jack, if he squinted he could make out the headers on the top of the pages as accounting, maintenance and there were other’s he couldn’t see. What on Earth would Jack be looking at something like that for? They were normally his jobs and yet, they didn’t look like the hub reports he was used to dealing with.

Jack put down the papers and entered something into the PDA using its pen. With a start Ianto’s realized that the tapping and beeping he’d been hearing was Jack on the PDA. But why was it so loud? Ianto was two second away from freaking out about his sudden ability to hear weird noises when Jack turned around and looked straight at him freezing all thoughts in their tracks.

Ianto hated how Jack always seemed to know exactly where he was, it made sneaking up on him impossible and usually left you the one jumping in surprise. The man beside Jack looked up at him in surprise the brief looks of confusion showing that he at least had not known how long Ianto had been standing there. Jack stood and was moving towards Ianto without a word and Ianto suppressed the urge to step backwards or turn and duck back into the bedroom.

“How are you feeling?” Jack asked reaching a hand out to Ianto who automatically leaned away from the touch. Jack let his hand fall away and instead scanned Ianto with his eyes, hands tucked securely in his pockets to help avoid the temptation of touching.

“Who am I to become?” Ianto asked trying to keep his voice steady as he held Jack’s eyes, which was a harder task for him than the older man.

“What?” Jack asked confused.

“You’ve brought me here to retcon me. Plush hotel, paperwork with accounting details and who I assume is the man who’s supposed to find me and help me. Is that what the pills were on the side of the bed? You wanted me to take them on my own by accident save you having to do the task yourself. Well sorry sir, I’ve staged enough of these myself and if you’re planning on creating a new life for me I’d rather check that you’ve got everything right first,” Ianto snapped his mouth closed to stop his nervous rambling.

“I’m not retconning you Ianto. I brought you here so you could recover from what happened this morning.”

“I feel fine sir, now if you’ll excuse me I’d like to check what you’ve created for me,” Ianto replied not believing for a moment that Jack wasn’t planning his exit from Torchwood and the captain’s life.

Jack stared at Ianto for a moment trying to decide what to do before gesturing for the younger man to move towards the sofa. “Jacob, will you show Mr. Jones here what we’ve been working on.”

“Of course Master Jack,” Jacob smiled as Ianto took a seat, Ianto winced at the volume, why on earth was he yelling.

Jacob winced apologetically as Jack made a gesture for him to quiet down. Jacob stepped forward and held out the reports for Ianto to see. Ianto took the files from Jacob with a smile, he briefly noticed the hotel’s logo on the form of the leather file and his eyes widened in surprise. What on earth were they doing a five star hotel? Filing that question away for later Ianto began to flick through the file. He expected to see the paperwork on needed to live on. Before him how ever was the Hotel’s monthly report, everything from finance to maintenance and staff and at the bottom of each piece of paper was Jack’s bold signature.


	7. Chapter Six

Ianto stared at the papers in his hand in confusion.

“Jacob and I were just going through the monthly reports while I was waiting for you to come around,” Jack explained standing at the end of the sofa arms crossed, wearing a rather smug expression. “Now do you believe I’m not going to retcon you?”

“Not really Sir,” Ianto replied not willing to look at the older man as he handed the file back to Jacob.

Jack’s phone rang and with a quick glance at the caller ID he moved into the other room before answering.

“Must be a work call,” Jacob mused obviously trying to relax things with Ianto.

“I’m sorry, who...?” Ianto began and Jacob blushed bowing his head apologetically.

“Of course, I’m sorry sir. My name is Jacob McDonald, General Manager. I run the hotel here for Master Jack.”

“Master Jack?” Ianto asked eyeing Jacob like he was about to pull out a sign and declare it April fool’s day.

“Yes, Sir, The Dragon Hotel has been in Master Jack’s family for the past three generations. He’s always busy with his work at Torchwood so I run the hotel for him and report to him every month with the reports, unless something happens, in which case I call him directly,” Jacob explained.

Ianto’s head was reeling, Jack owned a hotel? And not just any hotel, the second most expensive hotel in Cardiff.

“I feel I should also apologize for earlier. Master Jack had told me it was important to whisper so it didn’t hurt your ears but I’m afraid I forgot so I apologize for any discomfort I may have caused you,” Jacob said this face matching his apologetic nature perfectly.

“What do you mean whispering?” Ianto asked, things were getting stranger and stranger by the second and Ianto just didn’t know what was real anymore.

“You cannot tell? Apart from my slip up, Master Jack and I have been whispering to you since you woke. He said your hearing would be out of shape but I did not realize you would not be able to tell,” Jacob frowned in confusion, Ianto’s expression matching his own. There was nothing wrong with his hearing, he could hear just fine. Jacob and Jack must be playing some sort of game to mess with his head, which considering how he was feeling probably wouldn’t be to hard at the moment.

Jack re-entered the room. “Jacob there’ll be a gentleman in a red cap and military uniform coming with a parcel for me. He’ll demand to come up here but I need him gone and the parcel here. Can you deal with him for me?”

“Of course Master Jack,” Jacob replied with a smile and a nod and left the room.

Ianto turned and stared at Jack who simply gazed back at him, “You own a hotel?”

“I do, it’s been in the family for a couple of generations now,” Jack replied with a shrug as if owning a massive five star hotel was the equivalent of owning a flat.

“Yes Jacob fed me the same line. Don’t think I’ll believe it like he does, I control the archives Sir, I know just how well you’ve aged,” Ianto snorted.

Jack tilted his head to one side as if studying the other man. “Jacob knows about me. He’s been running this place for me as long as I’ve owned it.”

“Is he like you or is he non human?” Ianto asked, eyes travelling to the door the other being had left through.

“He’s a Maltani. He’s actually a blue smooth skinned alien about a foot high. He grows himself a new human body every thirty years or so. They produce some sort of frequency so convince people to do whatever they want so it’s a good thing they’re a docile species and it makes him brilliant at his job,” Jack said with a shrug.

Ianto was about to comment on an alien running a Cardiff hotel when the world seemed to dip and he swayed unsteadily on his feet. Jack stepped forward and gently grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him.

“You should still be in bed. Owen said you’d need to rest for a few days from the trauma your body just went through. The drugs should have knocked you out for 8 hours; you’ve only been out for six so I think it’s time we get you back into bed,” Jack said smiling a little as Ianto leaned comfortably into his embrace, just like he used to before Lisa.

Pulling a syringe from his pocket Jack flicked the cap off and carefully pushed a needle into Ianto’s neck. The needle contained the next lot of sedative, which Owen had instructed Jack to use once the hours were up of if Ianto managed to wake on his own. Ianto only flinched a little then he leaned more heavily into Jack’s embrace as the drugs started to flood his system.

“You don’t need to worry about me Sir since I’m still dreaming anyway,” Ianto sighed basking in Jack’s scent as he suddenly felt drained.

“What?” Jack asked confused pushing Ianto back a little so he could stare at the younger man’s face.

“I’m dreaming Sir. It’s the only explanation for all the impossible things that are going on around here. If it makes you feel better though I’m going to go and curl up in that nice bed once more before I wake up properly on the autopsy table,” Ianto said stepping away from Jack and moving slowly and a little wobbly back towards the bedroom.

Jack stared after Ianto in confusion. Ianto’s behaviour was no doubt a side effect from him not being fully recovered but it was a little disturbing to see.

“Ianto, what impossible things?” Jack asked.

“Three. The first being all my senses are messed up. The second is you owning a hotel, why on earth would you own a hotel, you make more than enough at Torchwood, you haven’t got time to buy yourself an apartment to live in, so it’s not very likely you’d buy a hotel to run on the side now is it,” Ianto asked heading to the door of the bedroom.

Jack watched him go for a moment, then seeing just how unsteady he was as exhaustion began to take over he helped Ianto across the room to the bedroom. Deciding on a gentlemanly approach he stopped at the door to let Ianto take himself into the room on his own.

“What’s the third reason Ianto?” Jack asked as he saw Ianto was about to shut the door.

Ianto looked up, meeting Jack’s eyes and giving him a small, heartbreaking smile. “You’re acting like you really care about me. I know that’s not true thought don’t I? You’ve more than prove it since Lisa,” Ianto whispered before quietly shutting the door leaving Jack standing there in shock and pain.

Moving quietly to the bed Ianto climbs in and snuggles down enjoying this comfortable dream world for as long as he can. Because he knows when he opens his eyes next he’ll be awake back at the hub, in the autopsy bay with the others looking down on the foolish tea-boy who got himself zapped.

As Ianto slipped back into his drug induced unconsciousness, he missed the sound of something glass being thrown and shattering against the wall in the other room.


	8. Chapter Seven

Tosh sat beside Ianto’s bed reading a book; she would have been working on her laptop except Owen was using it to work on Ianto’s test results in the other room.  She had spent the last week beside Ianto’s bed watching over the younger man as he slept. Owen would drop by a few times a day and take scans and do a few tests, using her laptop to compare and record the results. Gwen and Jack were manning the hub and while Gwen would drop by in the evenings to see how Ianto was, Jack had been strangely absent since that night a week ago when he’d come storming into the hub _requesting_ that Tosh take up Ianto watching duty.

Jack had told them Ianto had woken briefly not long after they’d left from settling him in. According to Jack Ianto had been pretty weak and had only lasted a little while before Jack had given him his next dose of sedative and put him back to bed. Owen had been surprised Ianto had even woken up at all though since then Ianto had stayed asleep even through Owen’s tests which was more what they’d expected to happen.

Tosh glanced up from her book and almost jumped in fright seeing the red rimmed blue eyes staring at her from the bed. Instantly she threw down her book and moved to his side.

“You’re awake! How are you feeling?” Tosh asked making sure to keep her voice low like Jack had told them.

“I’m not dreaming am I Tosh? Jack really does have me in a hotel room to recover?” Ianto asked instead and Tosh nodded in confirmation not sure where his questions had come from. Her agreement only seemed to pain Ianto though as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to burrow himself down into the covers, she barely caught the whispered “I’ve done it again,” from Ianto. Frowning in confusion Tosh stood and headed to the door to fetch Owen.

The medic looked up from where he was working when Tosh opened the door and stepped out of the bedroom. “Is he alright?” Owen asked.

“He’s awake. He seems to know where he is but he’s upset about something,” Tosh replied once the door was firmly shut behind her though she wasn’t sure why she bothered. If what Jack had said was true he would be able to hear them anyway.

Owen pulled out his mobile and called Jack while Tosh watched trying to work out what was happening from listening to one side of the conversation.

“Yeah, Jack he’s awake.... Are you going to come and explain everything? ... I know I’m the bloody medic... this had more to do with you than anyone else... fine!” Owen snapped the phone shut while calling the older man a few unflattering names.

“He’s not coming is he?” Tosh asked.

“No he’s bloody well not!” Owen snorted picking up the laptop and heading towards the bedroom. Stepping inside it took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darker lighting but soon he could see the lump curled up on the bed. Hearing Tosh enter the room behind him he passed her the laptop and made his way to the edge of the bed.

“How you feeling tea-boy?”

“Like shit,” came the grumbled reply from within the bedding.

“I imagine having your DNA rewritten wouldn’t feel very nice no,” Owen replied watching as the buddle shifted so Ianto could stare out from behind the covers at him.

“What happened? Is that why I’m different, why my senses feel like they’ve been supercharged, even the water tastes so strong,” Ianto said slowly sitting himself up in bed preparing for the aches and pains that had greeted him last time he was away but there were none. “How long have I been out?” he frowned.

“A week,” Tosh said and Ianto’s eyes widened in shock.

“Yeah, you’ve been sleeping like a log while your body recovered and adjusted to its new changes,” Owen confirmed.

“Which are?” Ianto pushed but Owen shrugged his shoulders pulling one of his med kits from the cupboard next to the bed.

“First things first,” Owen said holding up a thermometer and ignoring Ianto’s annoyed sigh even as he opened his mouth for Owen to place it under his tongue.

\----------

Carefully opening the door without making a sound he scanned the room and was relieved to see no one was in the main area. He padded slightly across the plush carpet to the bedroom door where he took up position to listen to the occupants inside as Owen gave Ianto his midday check up, for the first time with the younger man awake.

As the discussion began over what had actually happened he felt a bit guilty for not going inside to help, but he wasn’t ready to face him again. Not yet, not after what happened last time.


	9. Chapter Eight

“Right you seem to have healed completely, which is good, even if I don’t know how it’s happened. It must be another of the side effects,” Owen said putting everything back into his kit and shoving it back into the cabinet.

“What exactly happened to me?” Ianto asked looking between the two perched on either side of his bed.

Tosh and Owen exchanged glances though Tosh’s was concern Owen was radiating guilt and it was obvious that he would have to be the one to explain just what was going on.

“I left a device out for you to be zapped by. We’ve tested and used it before all it does is makes the body go numb, immobilizes you completely for a few hours. I left it out as a sort of punishment, since I thought everyone was letting you off too lightly,” Owen began he stood up and began to pace the room in frustration. “I didn’t mean for anything else to happen alright. It was an accident and I...well.... I’m sorry alright. The device I left out apparently produces the energy the medical device Jack gave you to put away needs to run.”

Tosh feeling bad for Owen decided to take over the explanation for a while “The medical device Jack gave you is used by a species to repair defective or damaged DNA in extreme circumstances it can rewrite an entire beings DNA though the chances for survival are very slim. The only problem is when it activated there was no programming to tell it what to do.”

“So this thing just started changing my DNA however it felt like?! It’s messed with my senses that much is obvious. Do you all have to still whisper to me? What else has it done?” Ianto asked, clear panic is his voice.

Tosh rested her hand on Ianto’s arm to try and soothe him. “Yes we’re still talking softly to you, but it won’t be forever, just until you learn to control your stronger hearing. We don’t want to give you a headache from being too loud when you’ve only just woken up.”

“When it first started the changes it just started rewriting whatever and your body may have literally fallen apart if a... blueprint hadn’t been added to the process. The first person to touch you, it took on their DNA and modifies your DNA to match. But not all of it obviously, you’re still you on the outside you’re just a little different on the inside.”

“Who?” Ianto asked confused.

“Jack. Jack caught you as you were falling; it zapped him and modeled your changes off him.” Tosh answered and Ianto’s eyes widened in shock.

If he was modeled off Jack why did he feel so different? Was Jack’s immortality only one of the things different about him? He looks and acts human, but there was obviously something else going on. Ianto was broken from his thoughts by Owen continuing to explain things.

“I’ve never thought I’d hear the day Jack Harkness would give up information about himself in my life. Apparently he’s from the bloody future sometime, so you’re now a slightly more evolved human being, a more evolved version of yourself technically,” Owen shrugged.

Ianto felt a little hurt that Jack hadn’t told him before especially since they had been... Ianto shook his head, they weren’t anymore and he had to stop thinking like that. Besides it’s not like he didn’t keep him own secrets from the older man. That small hurt however was outweighed by a much larger one caused by the man’s current absence, after all he would be the best person to explain this to Ianto, especially since he’d actually know what he was experiencing at the moment. Instead he’d chosen to tell the others his secrets so he wouldn’t have to be here.

“Now that you’re awake and seem to be fully recovered I want to take some blood for tests,” Owen says pulling a syringe and vials out of his pocket, “I need to take them back to the hub for the tests I want to do then I’ll come back here when I’ve done them and we can go over what I’ve found and where we go from here, alright?”

Ianto nodded in understanding presenting his arms for Owen to insert the needle, Tosh squeezing the hand she’s still holding in support.

“For now I want you to stay here away from anything that might irritate your new senses, or anything else we don’t know has changed yet. Tosh will stay here and look after you,” Owen said pulling the now full vial off and pressing the next one in, watching as it filled with the thick red liquid.

\----------

Tosh showed Owen out and then came back and took up her seat beside Ianto’s bed; the younger man staring at the ceiling above him deep in thought.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Tosh asked and Ianto continued to stare at the ceiling though he did smile at her in response.

“Which part, the part where while I’m asleep you all find out some of the mystery about the Captain? The part where I’ve just been forcibly evolved? Or did you have something else in mind?” Ianto replied the small sad smile on his face taking any sting out of the words.

“Jack never would have told us anything if it didn’t help you,” Tosh started deciding to take the first question first and make her way through them.

“I suppose not,” Ianto shrugged not really believing it himself.

“When Owen and Jack get back, if he can find Jack, we’ll work out just what has changed. Owen’s had DNA tests running since you first passed out but I’m pretty sure things only stopped changing yesterday so he’s still waiting for the last set of results to come through,” This time Ianto didn’t bother to answer, he was too busy wondering whether Jack would show up at all.

Tosh chewed on the inside on her lip, she hated being too pushy, but Ianto’s silence was worrying her, especially since they’d developed a good friendship where they could talk to each other before he’d been zapped. “Do you want to tell me what had you so upset when you first woke up?”

Tosh is just about to give up on waiting for an answer when a quiet whisper comes from the bed. “I’ve hurt Jack again.”

“How?”

“I... Tosh do you know where he is? I really need to talk to him,” Ianto asked perching himself up on the bed so he can look her in the eye.

“I’ve only seen him once since he asked me to look after you here and that’s because I popped to the hub to get some of my paperwork while Owen was here for one of your checkups.”

“That’s okay, never mind then, I’m sure he’ll come and see me when he wants to.”

“Ianto what happened when you first woke up? Jack came back to the hub and he was so hurt and angry but none of us could figure out what had happened to make him react that way.

“When I woke up the first time I thought I was dreaming there were just too many strange things happening to me at once and I didn’t react very well. I said some things as well as saying something about Jack not caring about me. I didn’t take it in at the time but he looked like I’d just punched him in the gut. I think I really hurt him,” Ianto admitted.

“He does care Ianto, more than you realize.”

“How can you know that?”

“Trust me, I know. You just need to talk to each other and start sorting things out rather than being constantly stonewall defensive as soon as you see the other,” Tosh scowled, not quite believing that she was essentially playing matchmaker between the pair.

“You really think so?” Ianto asked turning his head to look at her for the first time since she’d taken her seat beside him.

“I do, one of you just needs to make the first move into fixing things between you.”


	10. Chapter Nine

Jack stood on the roof staring out over Cardiff lost in thought. He’d just managed to sneak away without being noticed earlier as Owen left and he’d headed straight for the roof to think. He needed to talk to Ianto, he knew that, he was the best person to help him through what he was going through but he wasn’t entirely sure Ianto would accept his help right now.

“I thought I’d find you up here,”

Jack just about fell off the edge of the building in shock as the familiar voice behind him spoke. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t even heard his approach.

Ianto stepped into his view, leaning slightly to look over the edge at the drop below before deciding he was better off away from the edge and sat himself on a nearby container.

“How did you find me?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. I needed to speak to you so I just followed my gut; of course I had to convince Tosh to have a soak in the tub first so I could sneak out,” Ianto replied staring out over the city’s lights.

Pulling his mobile from his pocket he quickly sent Tosh a message to let her know Ianto was with him so she didn’t worry.

“How are you feeling?” Jack asked stepping away from the edge and sitting down next to Ianto, though neither man looked at each other, just continued to stare out over the city.

“Okay, I guess, considering I’m now some sort of future boy,” Ianto replied.

“I would have told you where I was from but the timing just never seemed right,” Jack sighed, knowing it would have been bothering Ianto.

“Time never seems like the right time and then it’s gone and you’ve missed you chance,” Ianto replied.

“I guess so.”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem telling everyone else.”

“They only know the basics and I only told them because I thought it would help you,” Jack retorted.

“Of course sir,”

“Do you want to go somewhere warmer to talk about this? Or are you happy to sit up here on the roof getting stiff and cold since you didn’t think to bring up a jacket.”

Ianto didn’t answer merely glanced at the older man before standing up and heading inside. Jack sighed at how awkward this was, though he didn’t fail to realize that somehow he had become on the receiving end rather than the giving.

\-----------

Heading back into the suite, Tosh looked up from the sofa giving them both a relieved look when she saw them, though it quickly changed to worry and suspicion when Jack told her she could head back to the hub or home for the night and he’s stay and keep an eye on Ianto for a while. After getting a confirmation from Ianto however she agreed and gathering up her things and headed off, promising to be back in the morning.

The pair sat down on the sofas and it was quiet for a minute, neither really knowing where to start before Jack decided to just suck it up.

“I was born in the future. The 51st century in an Earth colony on the Boshane Peninsula. Gorgeous place, by the ocean side, the settlement we lived in was actually built on the beach.” Jack began and Ianto listened, taking in everything Jack said in case he never heard it again.

“By that time the human race has evolved a lot naturally, but we’re also out amongst the stars so predictably there was an amount of interbreeding as well.”

“Hang on are you saying I now have alien in me somewhere?” Ianto asked sitting up straighter.

“Not enough for anyone to notice, you’re still probably 98 or 99 percent human so it’s not something you need to worry about.”

“Oh so, what’s evolved that I DO need to worry about?”

“The normal things that evolve, you’re senses are stronger and more accurate, you’re physically a little, stronger, faster, better balance, stamina that sort of thing. You’ll have low level telepathic abilities that eventually I’ll be able to teach you how to use, but for now we need to focus on the things that will affect your everyday life.”

“Why don’t we see all these things with you?”

“I keep them controlled and concealed, which is what I’m going to teach you how to do. Blend in with the humans around you so you don’t draw attention to yourself and wind up on an examination table somewhere.”

“Anything else?”

“Ah, you’ll heal a little faster, your immune system will be the same though ‘cause you haven’t been exposed to any of the viruses and things I have to boost my immunity. However you will be a little more resilient to illness and with the right chemical triggers you have the ability to bear children,” Jack admitted his voice trailing off a little at the end not sure now Ianto would react to that news.

Ianto stared into space taking a big gulp of his coffee, “Okay then, let’s not bring that up again until I have a handle on everything else first.”

Jack chuckled in reply, the first relaxed and happy sound to come out between them in a while now.

“Listen Jack, last night... I mean last week or whenever it was, I didn’t mean it the way it came out.”

“Of course you did, that’s the problem. I’ve spent the last month acting like such an ass because I felt so betrayed over Lisa. But when I saw that thing zap you it scared the hell out of me Ianto and made me realize I needed to stop pretending I didn’t care anymore.”

“I still care about you as well Jack. Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I should have been loyal to Lisa I just couldn’t help myself. And I am sorry. Not for trying to save Lisa, I would do that all over again if I could because until Tanazaki tried to mess with her she was still my Lisa. What I am sorry for is that I lied to you, betrayed you and almost got you all killed. That I never wanted to happen.”

Jack reached over and clasped Ianto’s hand, a silent agreement, apology and acceptance all in one. They were still a fair way from being alright but it was a start at least.

“Right, I know Owen’s running more tests but while we wait for the good Doctor to return we should really start some of your training because it’ll take a while for you to get a handle on everything.”

“Okay where do we start?” Ianto asked running a hand through his hair. He was having a bit of trouble accepting just what was happening to him and what Jack was telling him but it was too hard to deny the truth. Now that he was awake and aware of what was happening he could feel the differences in himself. His senses were almost overwhelming and he seemed to have a constant headache due to them, hopefully that would pass with Jack’s teachings.

“Well Jacob has this place put aside for us as long as we want it. And while you’re still adjusting I’d rather you’re here where we can keep a tighter control on your environment. Plus someone should stay with you most of the time and that’s always easier in neutral territory,” Jack said pausing slightly as he considered his next words, “Ianto the best person to stay with you here would be me, since I’m going to be training you while you adjust but if you’d prefer I can get one of the others to stay with you the rest of the time.”

“I don’t mind you staying here, if you don’t mind… staying here with me… as well.”

“Right, so that’s settled then,” Jack replied both of them trying to ignore the awkward silence that fell over the room once again, until Ianto decided to break the silence and change the topic.

“So, I’m assuming it’s not a coincidence that an alien runs your hotel, or that this is where we book all our guests from UNIT on their visits,” Ianto replied looking around the room.

“I bought this hotel with the blood money I earned when I was first ‘recruited’ to Torchwood. I’d spent as little as possible of it until I bought this place. The entire staff is made up of fugitives and refugees from other planets, those who can’t quite pass as human work behind closed doors away from the public.”

“And the fact that you make money from Torchwood and UNIT every time we book guests here isn’t a perk,” Ianto asked, eyebrow raised.

“I take out what is needed to keep the hotel running and pay the staff, more than the standard rates too, and put the mark-up back into Torchwood. Having them there also means I can keep a close eye on them if I need to and Jacob is always willing to help out with them,” Jack explained.

“I do the books sir, I would notice if we had another income source,” Ianto replied confused.

“I didn’t say it went through the books; I do plenty of maintenance work when none of you are around and generally it finances that,”

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous having UNIT staying in a hotel run by aliens? If they ever found out...”

“Jacob’s second, a woman called Macari can alter perceptions of people. It takes a lot out of her but when UNIT is here she spends most of her time in a deep meditation while she keeps the perception up for the UNIT members.”

“What about the general public? Don’t they notice anything?”

“It’s like everything, people write off things they don’t understand as their imagination and the staff are very careful,” Jack explained, he knew this conversation was a stalling tactic for both of them but neither were ready to move on to more serious topics just yet.

Jack phone ringing was a welcome relief and Ianto was pleased to see he didn’t leave the room to answer it. He had wondered last time whether it was him or Jacob who had been the reason for it.

“Owen,” Jack answered.

“Jack. Ianto’s results have come back fine from what I can tell. But it’s like I’m looking at a new person there’s only so much I can work out by comparing his results to yours. After a while if he seems fine I can take a new set of base reading for him so I have something to compare with in the future.”

“But you think he’s good to go?” Jack asked eyes landing on Ianto who raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Let him rest tonight and tomorrow you can start training him or whatever you have to do so he can adapt to his changes,” Owen suggested.

“Alright, thanks Owen. I’m gonna be staying here with Ianto, It’ll be easier than swapping between the three of us. I want you to run the place, have Tosh divert any calls and emails from the higher ups to me here and I want you to call me if anything big comes up.”

“Will do, Try not to kill each other,” Owen said and with that he hung up leaving Jack with a half sad half amused smile on his face and Ianto not understanding what had put it there.  



	11. Chapter Ten

Ianto stirred awake to strong smells from the other room. They were making his stomach growl and mouth water, waking him enough to stumble from the room to seek them out. Yawning as he entered the main room he saw Jack at the table reading a paper and drinking coffee. Two covered food trays sat on the table next to him where the enticing smells were obviously coming from.

Hearing him come into the room further Jack looked up and smiled, the man had obviously been up for a while, if in fact he had actually gone to bed at all, since they were in separate rooms of the suite Ianto wasn’t sure which it was.

“I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up so I ordered breakfast for you since it’s getting late and they’ll stop serving breakfast soon.” Jack explained waving his hand in the direction of the trays.

“What they won’t make allowances for the boss?” Ianto asked curiously.

“Of course they would, but I try not to be too much of a nuisance, they’ve got enough to do around here as it is,” Jack shrugged folding the paper and passing it to Ianto.

Ianto scanned the paper Jack had given him and snorted in amusement at the report of weather balloon in the Beacons. “I’m assuming not a balloon?”

“Lost tourist, I think Gwen said they were Kinarin,” Jack shrugged taking another sip of his coffee.

“And that’s the best cover story they could come up with?”

“Not everyone has your finesse for these things. Here, sit down and eat so we can get started on your lessons,” Jack said pushing one of the trays towards the seat opposite him at the table.

Ianto uncovered his food to reveal some sort of porridge glaring at Jack he lifted the cover off the other man’s breakfast to find bacon and eggs.

“You’ll need to get used to your stronger sense of taste, we’ll start you on something blander, then we’ll work on stronger flavours,” Jack explained.

“Can I at least put something on it?” Ianto asked staring down at his bowl.

“I wouldn’t advise it. Just taste it Ianto, it’ll taste better than you think,” Jack said digging into his own breakfast.

Ianto glared at Jack before reaching across the table and taking Jack’s coffee from him defiantly taking a mouthful glaring at the older man as he swallowed.

Jack watched him waiting for a reaction of disgust sort but none came. Ianto simply smirked at him and began eating his porridge pausing periodically to take another mouthful of coffee.

Why did it not surprise Jack that Ianto could handle coffee, he was beginning to wonder if there was anything that would separate the Welshman from his beloved coffee.

“Okay then, once we’ve had breakfast we’ll start on your first lesson,” Jack said turning back to his own breakfast.

\-----------

Jack led Ianto out onto the roof breathing the fresh air deeply.

“Jack, I know you have a fascination with roofs but what are we doing up here?” Ianto asked stopping in the doorway to the stairs.

“We’re starting your training. We need some where quiet to work until we work on your hearing or you’re just going to end up with a major headache.”

“So why can’t we work in the suite?” Ianto asked, the brightness of the cloudless day hurting his eyes.

“Because we need the distance, you need to get used to the sun and there’s no one here to bother us,” Jack grinned.

Ianto sighed in annoyance realizing he wasn’t going to win this one and moved further out onto the roof.

“Now I want you to tell me what you see,” Jack said urging Ianto closer to the edge of the roof so they were looking out over the city.

“That would be Cardiff, as long as you’ve lived here I would have thought you’d know that by now,” Ianto retorted.

“Funny,” Jack snorted, it was good that Ianto was willing to banter with him again, he had missed that, but the underlining annoyance told Jack that the sun was already giving him a headache and that wasn’t such a good thing.

When Jack said nothing more Ianto realized he was still looking for an answer “I see lots of things, buildings, people in the buildings, the freeway over there, the bay,” Ianto replied sighing a little as Jack began to massage his temples and neck easing his headache slightly.

“You eyes will adapt to how much light they’re letting in on their own, but you need to give them the chance to practice even if it’s going to give you a little bit of a headache for the moment. What I need to teach you is how to control what you can see and at what distance,” Jack explained moving so he stood behind Ianto completely.

Ianto shivered as Jack pheromones surrounded him but he quickly squashed the feelings that began to stir. They weren’t ready for that, not by a long shot, even though they smelt so much better than they did before. Ianto began to turn slightly in Jack’s arms wanting to get closer to that smell.

Jack noticed the slight shift in Ianto’s demeanor but he didn’t want to embarrass Ianto and make him shy away from him so he decided that distracting him was probably the better option. Stretching his arm out he pointed to something in the distance that normal human eyes wouldn’t be able to make out apart from the shape, “What’s that Ianto?”

Jack’s voice broke him out of his daze and Ianto quickly, though subtly, adjusted himself back where he was supposed to be. Silently praying that Jack hadn’t been paying close enough attention to notice his slip he focused on what Jack wanted him to do.

Ianto followed his finger to where he was pointing which seemed to be a billboard down by the freeway.

“What does it say?” Jack asked leaning in a little closer than he needed to and Ianto mentally cursed his tactile nature for making it that much harder for him.

“It’s an advertisement for woman’s underwear and has that new model on it,” Ianto replied

“I didn’t ask what the picture was, that’s easy I want you to read it for me. All of it, even the smaller writing down the bottom,” Jack prompted.

Ianto squinted at the sign and frowned, “Can you read it?”

“Yes and so can you. Don’t squint like you need glasses, that won’t help. Just concentrate on the billboard and imagine it’s closer so you can read it, your body should do the rest.

Ianto did as Jack instructed but nothing happened. He sighed and opened his mouth to protest only to find Jack’s hand covering his mouth, “You can do it, now relax and try again; being so tense is no help to anyone,” Jack says and he’s so close that Ianto briefly feels Jack’s breath on his neck.

Ianto only just suppresses the shiver, shaking himself from jack’s embrace he steps away from him and begins to relax. Jack doesn’t move closer to him again, he actually steps further back and takes a seat on one of the vents. Ianto feels a little guilty thinking he’d upset Jack, but if the man wanted him to relax he needed to be able to stand there and not worry about reacting to Jack’s closeness.

Ianto shivers again, but this time it’s because he’s missing Jack’s warmth. God this was awkward, maybe he should have asked one of the others to stay with him; he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle being this close to Jack all the time and not being able to be with him. Unfortunately there was just too much broken ground between them at the moment. Things seemed to be going well between them but there was this underlining current that said otherwise.

Jack watch as Ianto stood there, a troubled look on his face. When Ianto had stepped away from him he had though it was his proximity that was making Ianto uncomfortable so he had stepped further back. Now Ianto was just standing there not doing or saying anything so Jack wasn’t so sure. In the past he just would have gone up to him and seen how he was, maybe pull him into his arms and hug him, now he was at a loss with what to do.

“Ianto are you alright? If you’re still not feeling well we can go back inside and you can get some more rest,” Jack suggested.  
“No Jack, it’s fine, I want to do this,” Ianto replied looking up at Jack, his troubled eyes telling Jack more than words ever could.

"Alright then."


	12. Chapter Eleven

A week later Jack needed to go to a meeting with the PM so Tosh had been sent round to Ianto-sit much to Ianto’s annoyance. Really what did Jack think he was going to do? Run away and join the circus?

Owen had been checking in with them every morning and Tosh would often come by in the afternoon or evening and watch a movie with them, even Gwen had stopped in one or twice.

Things between Jack and Ianto were still a little awkward though it was steadily getting better. They were no longer arguing with each other and it was almost like they had reverted back to the friends they had been before. Before they were together, before Lisa, when they were happy to just talk and work side by side at the Hub after the others had gone home for the night. The awkward moments would come though and at the most inopportune times and were usually completely unexpected. A touch that got a little to close or a little to long, or when they brushed past or bumped into each other when training. Eye contact was a big no and Ianto had developed a habit of holding his breath when Jack got to close to avoid breathing in his pheromones.

Tosh grinned up at Ianto as he handed her a mug of coffee and took a seat beside her on the couch.

“So how’s all your training going?” Tosh asked eagerly, she’d been dying to know but Jack simply refused to let them ‘talk shop’ when she would come over on visits and that included Ianto’s training it would seem. Now that jack wasn’t here however Tosh was dying to find out and she was pretty sure Ianto wouldn’t mind talking about it either.

Ianto looked at her out the corner of his eye and used his coffee mug to hide his grin, “its going fine Tosh.”

Tosh sighed dramatically picking up a magazine that had been left on the coffee table and whacking Ianto with it as he laughed at her, “I want more details than that!”

“Well I’ve got my sight completely under control; that was the first thing Jack worked on with me. I’ve got enough of my hearing sorted that no one has to whisper around me anymore but Jack wants to teach me how to listen to really quiet things which I can’t do. It’s like I’ve learnt how to turn down the volume but not actually how to tune my hearing in so I hear the oddest things at times,” Ianto explained, Tosh sitting there listening to him carefully, her clever mind processing everything he was saying in case she needed to know something later.

“You’re not squashing me when you hug me anymore either,” Tosh noted.

“Yeah I had to adjust to my new strength fairly quickly, Jacob got so tired of me breaking things he just stopped replacing them until Jack told him it was safe to again,” Ianto chuckled, when it came down to it his slightly increased strength was one of the easiest things to adjust to it was simply a trick of not putting in as much effort as before.

“How much stronger are you?” Tosh asked curiously.

“A bit, I guess, I can pick Jack up without too much effort. You should have seen the look on his face when I did. It won me a fifty-pound bet with Jacob. I’m not as strong as Jack, though he says that’s the same as anyone being stronger all I’d have to do was work out a little and I could get closer to matching him,” Ianto shrugged.

Tosh’s eyes flickered down to his t-shirt clad chest and back up, “You’re not exactly weak Ianto.”

“Trim and fit is what my sister calls it. She says there’s enough muscle to make me look good but not enough to bench press a bus,” Ianto said mimicking his sister’s voice, which set Tosh off into giggles again.

Ianto smiled at her, they’d developed a good friendship since he was zapped, he was pretty sure they were on their way to being friend when she would talk to him after Lisa, but it was like that cloud had moved on after the zapping and they could finally enjoy each other’s company completely.

\----------

Tosh’s stomach growled slightly making her blush and Ianto laugh, climbing to his feet Ianto fetched the room service menu and the phone and passed them to Tosh.

“Order whatever you like,”

Tosh nodded scanning the menu until she found something she liked the look of before beginning to dial. “Ianto did you want anything?” she asked before hitting the call button.

“Just tell them to send me something as well, they’ll work it out. Oh and order Jack the steak, medium-well.” Ianto replied and walked from the room.

Tosh frowned in confusion and quickly ordered her food, she was quite surprised when she mentioned Ianto’s name and they seemed to know exactly what was going on and said they’d prepare one of his specialized meals. Ianto reappeared from the bathroom not long after Tosh had hung up the phone. “Why are you on a specialized diet?”

“Because according to Jack I’m not ready to handle most foods so I keep getting stuck with things that I know are bland and boring,” Ianto shrugged flopping down into the armchair.

“You know they’re bland and boring?” Tosh prompted a little confused about his word choice.

“Don’t tell Jack, but he’s probably right since the things he’s been getting me to eat actually taste alright, even though I know they should taste like I’m eating cardboard,” Ianto replied.

Tosh was just about to ask something else when the door was opened and then slammed shut making them both jump and Ianto wince.

Jack who’d just stormed through the door saw Ianto wince and felt a stab of guilt “Sorry,” he muttered shrugging off his coat and throwing it over the back on a chair as he made his way over to the sofa and flopped down onto the couch with Tosh, his impact making her petite frame bounce a little on the other side of the poufy cushions. Eyes closed he rested his head back, eyes closed and small frown still in place.

“It went well then?” Ianto asked standing to fetch Jack a drink.

“Don’t get me started…” Jack groaned.

“Okay, well we ordered you dinner,” Tosh replied changing the subject.

“Thanks.”

They sat there in silence as Ianto poured them a drink. Tosh took hers with a smile and Jack cracked an eye open as the smell of scotch hit his nose. Ianto stood before him holding the drink out to him and he took it with a grin taking a first sip and moaning slightly in pleasure.

“Feel better?” Tosh asked in amusement.

“A good scotch can always make things better,” Jack grins at them both. Ianto is sitting there with his coffee and Jack wonders whether Ianto is ready for stronger flavours yet. He holds the scotch out in Ianto direction “Do you want to try?”

Tosh sits there quietly watching as Ianto stares at the glass for a moment. He has missed sitting having a drink at the end of the evening. He reaches out and takes the glass from Jack. His nose itches at such a strong smell.

“Tiny sip, Ianto, just in case.” Jack warns and Ianto nods lifting the glass to his lips and sipping, letting the liquid into his mouth.

It takes less than two seconds for him to spit it back out, into Jack’s glass. “Oh God how do you stand it? It’s so strong!”

Tosh tries to cover her giggles, it really wasn’t that funny after all but she just couldn’t help it.

“Okay, I’ve seen you drink coffee so why haven’t you reacted so badly to that. Minus the alcohol, which by the way will barely affect you these days, it’s flavor is just as strong, especially the way you drink you coffee,” Jack muttered.

“What’s wrong with the way I drink my coffee?!” Ianto demanded.

“Nothing! It’s not that different from how I take mine; the point is why could you handle the coffee and not the scotch?”

Ianto stared down into the glass in his hand, blushing as he realized what he’d done.

“I’ll get you another drink,” He muttered walking over to the drinks cabinet.

While getting Jack a new scotch Ianto had to think about what Jack had said not entirely sure if he knew. Soon he came up with an answer that made at least some sense to him, though whether Jack would understand what he meant was a completely different thing.

“I guess I was more focused on how it made me feel and the sensation and comfort from drinking it. I know what it tastes like and I enjoy the taste so I guess I was concentrating on the other parts of it.”

“Exactly, and that’s what you need to do with the stronger flavours you come across until you get used to how they now taste. Don’t focus on the taste or that’s all you’ll be able to experience, you need to take in all the feelings and sensations so the sensory inputs will balance out,” Jack replied sounding quite proud of himself as he takes his fresh scotch with a grin.

“You sound like my biology teacher you know that?” Ianto snorted.

“Was he good looking?” Jack grinned.

“It was a she for a start and no she wasn’t, she was three times her healthy body weight, greasy hair and nasty BO,” Ianto replied watching as Jack’s face screwed up in disgust causing both Ianto and Tosh began to laugh at him.

“Alright I’ll make sure never to sound like that woman again... that’s just disturbing,” Jack mutters getting up to answer the door when a knock signaled their dinner had arrived.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Jack stood in the doorway watching Ianto sleep. It amazed him how far the younger man had come with his training but then Ianto’s memory and ability to learn had always astounded Jack so he really shouldn’t be surprised.

After the incident with the scotch last night Jack had run down to the kitchen and after being almost crushed in a eight armed hug from the Santelion he’d asked Marichna to prepare lots of small samples of dishes. Once they’d arrived up in the room an hour later Jack and Tosh had helped Ianto with his taste into the early hours of the morning. By 3am Ianto had it almost down pat and Jack had sent Tosh to sleep in his room and Ianto to bed while he made himself comfortable on the sofa deciding it was easier not to sleep.

Tosh had woken an hour ago and after a quick shower and change into the clothes Jack had ordered for her from the hotel boutique had headed into the hub leaving him to his own devices once more. It wasn’t long until he found himself in the doorway. Standing watching Ianto sleep had become a bit of a habit since the young man had found him on the roof. There was something he still found soothing about watching Ianto and he found the more he did the more any remaining hard feelings toward the younger man began to melt away completely.

Ianto stirred in his sleep, nose wrinkling in a manner, which told Jack he was about to wake. Glancing at the clock and seeing it was now almost lunch time and time the younger man got up he moved into the room and perched himself on the side of the bed near Ianto’s hip.

“Come on sleepy, time to get up,” Jack said shaking Ianto’s shoulder gently.

“Jack?” Ianto murmured as his eyes peaked out from under the duvet “Wha?”

“Time to get up I’m taking you out.” Jack grinned

Ianto snorted and burrowed himself deeper into the duvet.

“I forgot what a burrower you were,” Jack mused, “if you’re not up in half an hour I’m coming in here with a bucket of Ice.”

Ianto snorted again and Jack took that as a confirmation before heading out of the bedroom to give him some privacy to get up.

Twenty seven minutes later Ianto appeared in the main area of the suite ready to go, dressed in a button up shirt and pair of jeans. Jack admired the sight for a moment before climbing to his feet and heading to the door holding it open for Ianto to go through. Ianto raised a suspicious eyebrow as he passed by Jack only to get the Harkness grin in return.

\----------

“Why the hell did you bring me down here for this? Couldn’t we have done something in the room? I’ve been here ten minutes and my head is already pounding so this clearly isn’t going to work Jack!” Ianto growled, rubbing his temples to try and ease the stress.

They were sitting in the hotel restaurant during lunchtime and Jack wanted to work on his hearing. This was insane, everything was so loud and the woman closest to them had an obnoxiously loud and high voice, which was leaving his ears ringing at the end of every sentence.

“Just breathe and try focusing on one voice. Let everything else drift into the background and focus on....” Jack glanced around the restaurant for a target before landing on one by the door. “Okay, see that waiter over there? The one who showed us to our seat? He’s on the phone taking a reservation, when’s the reservation for?” Jack asked.

Ianto did as he was asked closing his eyes and concentrated on his breathing he let everything begin to drift into the background as he focused on the one voice.

“It’s a reservation for someone’s 24th wedding anniversary,” Ianto explained listening to the waiter; Jack squeezed his hand in encouragement not wanting to speak while Ianto was focused on listening to something that far away.

“What can I get for you today gentlemen?” came a voice that was so loud it made Ianto’s head spin. He jumped in shock, his knees hitting the table and sending his glass of water down the front of the waiter who now stood beside them.

Jack was trying hard not to laugh as Ianto and the waiter stared at each other in shock, not to mention the attention they had drawn to their table because of the incident.

With countless apologies from Ianto, a few smiles plus a bonus in his pay from Jack and everything was sorted as they went about having lunch. Ianto was quite pleased to find Jack had let him order whatever he wanted for lunch after all the progress they had made last night, though he was careful to stay away from some dishes none the less.

They talked, mostly small talk or about Ianto’s progress, occasionally Jack would have Ianto focus on another conversation before they’d slip back to whatever they had been talking about previous. It surprised them both just how comfortable they were becoming with each other once more, though the fact that they were practically living together and spending most of their time together was definitely helping.

\----------

Ianto laid on the sofa, coffee balanced on his stomach, eyes closed as he tried to fight off the headache that was throbbing through his skull.

Jack entered the room fresh from his shower and noticed Ianto on the couch. He felt a little guilty knowing that the cause of his headache was technically him but the fastest way to teach Ianto was quite often to put him in situations where he didn’t really have any choice but to learn and adapt.

Walking to the sofa he gently nudged Ianto up into a sitting position before sitting where Ianto’s head had been and pushing him back down so he could gently begin massaging the younger man’s head in an attempt to ease the headache.

Ianto groaned in appreciation and Jack had to quickly squash his reactions. The last thing he wanted right now was to ruin their day and make things awkward between them.

“Sorry,”

“It’s not your fault,” Ianto replied, even managing a shrug in that position.

“It’ll only be for another couple of days then you should be completely at ease with your hearing and we can start working on your nose,” Jack explained. smirking as said nose screwed up a little in disapproval.

“Jack?” Ianto asked not opening his eyes.

“Yeah,” Jack replied making sure to keep up the movements, watching as the tension slowly seeped out of his frame.

“Do you think we’ll ever get back to where we used to be?” Ianto asked almost a whisper.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked looking down at him in confusion knowing there was very little chance that Ianto was actually talking about what had come to his mind with the question.

“You and me Jack. Back to how we were before Li... Never mind,” Ianto’s face had gone a rather fetching shade of red as he pulled himself out of Jack’s lap, sitting so he was facing away from the other man.

“It’s possible,” Jack replied watching Ianto for any sort of sign but not being able to really see any from the man facing away from him.

“Would you want that? Us?” Ianto asked carefully after a moment, he voice trembling a little with nerves.

Jack was silent for a moment, almost too long as he saw Ianto tense, ready to get off the sofa.

“Yeah Yan I think I would.”

Ianto turned to look at him as if trying to find the truth or the lie in his eyes. A few seconds later he smiled and nodded, Jack smiling gently in return.

Ianto stood looking a lot happier than he had before, “Goodnight Jack,” he said softly then in a fit of bravery he lent down and pressed a quick kiss to Jack’s lips before heading for his bedroom.

“Night,” Jack replied watching with wide eyes as Ianto slipped into his bedroom and shut the door. Jack settled back into the sofa resting his head on the back he stared up at the ceiling in thought. He really did want what they had back and he felt like they were finally ready for it. A happy warmth spread throughout his body as he continued to sit there loosing himself in his thoughts and memories.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Jack led Ianto to a park not far from the hotel. It was the middle of the night and pitch black since the power grid for this area had “mysteriously” gone down and would stay down for repairs for the next hour or two. Not that many people would notice the lack of power, it was almost three am and there were very few cars on the street for headlights to be too much of an issue.

Perfect for what Jack had planned.

“Alright, this one is all about your nose. I want you to get us back to the hotel by using the scent of the incense I set up outside the back door.” Jack explained

“Jack this probably won’t work the way you planned, it’s only a block away and my sense of direction is really good. I could find our way back without my nose, even with all the weaving you made us do to get here.”

Jack just smirked as he blindfolded the younger man. He grabbed Ianto by the shoulder and began to turn the other man around in circles being sure to move with him so when they stopped both of them were facing different directions.

“Really Jack?” Ianto sighed once they’d stopped.

“Oh I’m not done yet.” Jack laughed ducking down and throwing Ianto over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Ignoring Ianto’s protests and the occasional thumps to the back he walked in circles and weaved all over the place until there was no way Ianto could know which way was which.

Jack put Ianto down and pulled the blindfold off with a flourish making sure to keep one hand on Ianto’s arm as he swayed slightly regaining his balance.

“You are such a child sometimes,” Ianto said smirking as Jack pouted and further proved his point.

\----------

It didn’t take Ianto long to pick up the scent and they were soon moving through the darkened city towards the hotel, occasionally their course would drift when some stronger scent would get in the way, then it would take Ianto a few minutes to find the right scent and they’d be back on track again.

They were only a street away from finding the back door of the hotel when they turned down an alley, half way down the smell that met them had both men recoiling in disgust. Only one of them however knew what it was.

“Ianto be care...” Jack didn’t even get to finish the sentence as a Weevil jumped out from behind a trash can and charged at them.

Ianto reacted by instinct but his now faster reactions, which Jack had yet to work with him on, meant his body reacted quicker than his mind expected throwing him off balance and causing him to stumble. The Weevils plowed into him sending him into the wall head first with a sickening crunch.

Jack stood there in shock unable to do anything as he stared at Ianto’s limp form, his neck at an unnatural angle face turn towards Jack his eyes empty and staring into space.

Jack didn’t even see the Weevil move until it was plowing into him. Falling back onto the cold alley floor Jack screamed in rage and pain as the Weevil sunk its claws and teeth into his chest and neck. It didn’t take long for everything to sink into darkness as he bled out in the alleyway eyes still locked on Ianto’s limp form and soulless eyes.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Jack surged back to life but instead of the alley way he’d expected to see he was tucked into his bed at the hotel with a damp cloth which had previously been on his forehead but was now in his lap. As the memories flooded back to his Jack curled up and buried himself into the bed just wanting to escape. He could a muffled voice in the other room, probably talking on the phone, but he didn’t listen, he didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear whatever they’d done with Ianto’s body.

The door opened and he heard someone enter and walk towards the bed. He burrowed his head further under the covers not wanting to talk to anyone. The bed dipped beside him and someone tugged at the duvet, “Jack? What’s wrong?”

That voice.

Jack sat up fighting for a moment to get the covers off his head. Once he was free he couldn’t help but stare at the man sitting on the edge of the bed beside him.

“Are you okay Jack?” Ianto asked.

Jack’s hands moved as if of their own accord, reaching out he quickly used his hands to make sure Ianto was there and whole. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, bit of a sore neck but okay,”

Jack chuckled brokenly “A sore neck? I saw the weevil kill you, it broke your neck. I saw it. I saw you dead.”

“Jack, I’m fine, I promise,” Ianto said catching Jack’s hands and holding them in his own as he looked into the captains troubled eyes not sure what else to do. “I woke up after the Weevil knocked me out and found you dead in the alley, I remembered you telling me blood loss took a while to come back from so I brought you back here.”

Jack’s eyes gained a haunted look and he scrambled out of bed and out into the main area of the suite, Ianto hot on his heels.

Ianto found him behind the large scanner that had been in the corner of the room since he woke up the second time. It was the one Jack had ‘borrowed’ from UNIT with Jacob’s help and was apparently to be used to check that Ianto’s DNA wasn’t deteriorating at any point. Why Owen wasn’t allowed to touch it Jack wouldn’t say.

Ianto saw the green beam sweep across him and frowned in annoyance. Jack wasn’t talking to him and now he was scanning him with that bloody device without even asking him.

“You’ve had that scanner set up and scanning me almost the whole time we’ve been here are you going to tell me what it’s been keeping an eye on?” Ianto asked standing there arms crossed as Jack went through the scan results.

“I need to know if my suspicion is right. I need to know if I’ve cursed you too.” Jack muttered his voice shaking slightly as he worked.

“What suspicion? What curse?” Ianto asked a little softer, something about this was really spooking Jack and he still didn’t know why Jack kept insisting he was dead.

“Ianto there is no way you should have survived the amount of DNA rewriting you went through, not without the right prep and medical attention, none of which we have in this time. Then I... I saw you die Ianto, I didn’t imagine it, you died Ianto, and now you’re here. The device latched onto me and my DNA as a template.”

“Meaning…” Ianto prompted.

“Well I’m not exactly normal am I Ianto.”

“I know that Jack but...?”

“Apart from my 51st century genetics Ianto; I mean my immortality.”

Ianto stared at Jack “You think I’m immortal? Like you are?”

“Not quite. I think somehow the device bound you to me. I think I’m sharing my life energy, the vortex in me with you. Somehow it’s ties us to the same life source.”

“Are you sure?” Ianto asked staring at Jack in shock. It was scary and confusing but at the same time it was a gift to both of them. Ianto would never have to experience his fear of leaving those he cared about behind due to an early death with Torchwood. And Jack would never have to be alone again, even if he didn’t want to be with Ianto romantically he would still have a friend who could always be there for him.

“All the scans I’ve done seem to suggest it there was very faint energy trail bouncing between the two of us. Now it’s so much stronger like it needed a reason to fully develop. I didn’t want to believe it, then you died and you came back and I...” Jack replied staring at the screen in front of him in shock, fear, hope and a little bit of wonder.

Ianto stepped forward and made sure Jack was looking at him, “This is a good thing isn’t it?”

“I thought I’d lost you today.”

“But you didn’t and you won’t. I’ll always be here however you want me in your life I’ll be here with you as long as you live,” Ianto replied.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you sure.”

“Yes.”

“We could be bound together forever.”

“Eternally bound to you? I can think of worse things.”

This time Jack didn’t answer. Reaching out he pulled the younger man towards him, kissing him properly for the first time since Lisa. As both men clung to each other Ianto steered them back towards his bedroom.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Ianto woke and rolled over searching for the warm body that had become a permanent resident in his bed for the past week. Finding only an empty cold spot he sat up and gazed around the room for any sort of sign. Spotting a note on his bedside table he picked it up to have a look. He expected it to say Jack had been called in by the others. The rift had been mercifully quite while Ianto recovered and learnt so there were only a small number of times when Jack had been called into work because the other three couldn’t handle it on their own. 

_Yan,  
Had to call the PM this am.  
Was a quick call so decided to set up today’s exercise.  
Meet me in the Pool room at 9.  
\- Jack xx _

Ianto smiled in amusement at the note before looking at the clock, he had half an hour, plenty of time to have a shower first. Climbing out of bed Ianto stretched and headed for the bathroom wondering what Jack had planned today.

\----------

“You want to tell me how this is an effective test for my speed?” Ianto asked ducking as Jack threw another stinking slime ball in Ianto’s direction.

“It’s not speed training you’re not really fast. You’ve got better reflexes and you’re body takes slightly less time to react to the messages you’re sending it. It gives the illusion of speed but you’re moving at the same velocity you used to just a few second sooner,” Jack explained.

“Okay, fine, you’re training my reactions but that still doesn’t explain to me how this is helpful,” Ianto replied stepping to the side and out of the way.

“Simple, there’s no way you want this stuff to get on you, you’re too much of a clean freak about your suits and this stuff is absolutely disgusting,” Jack said throwing another one at Ianto, then having to re-adjust his gloves as they was beginning to slip.

“What exactly is it?” Ianto asked wrinkling his nose at the stinking mess behind him ever since the Weevil attack they’d been refining his other senses to perfection. They’d finally moved onto this, a new activity but Jack has not mentioned working on his sense of smell so the stuff that was being thrown at him stunk so badly it was beginning to make his eyes water.

“Not sure, one of the staff member’s excretes it once a day. Some sort of detox or something gets rid of all the things in Earth food that’s bad for their species or something. They usually do it down in the bathroom where it can be easily cleaned up. But I asked one of the girls if she could organize this for me. And really no one’s going to refuse the big boss, especially if he’s offering a nice big tip to go with it,” Jack explained lobbing another lump of it at Ianto.

“Wait a minute you’re throwing some kind of alien waste at me?!” Ianto demanded.

“So it would seem,” Jack smirked scooping up another handful.

One of the staff entered the pool area where they were training and it was a long enough distraction for Ianto to cross the small distance between them. Standing behind him one hand was around Jack’s wrist that was holding the goo, the other wrapped around his chest to keep them in their current position.

“Fast enough for you sir?” Ianto asked blowing warm air across Jack ear and making his lover shiver. While Jack was distracted by the feeling of Ianto pressed up against him the younger man smirked and with a flick of his wrist he managed to flick some of the goo from Jack’s captured hand onto the front of Jack’s shirt.

“Son of a...!” Jack snapped flicking the rest of the goo and the glove off his hand so he could examine his shirt. Seeing it was only a few tiny fleck that, with a lot of soap would wash out and not smell afterwards. Jack turned to deal with Ianto who was already at the other end of the pool room grinning at the older man.

“What’s the matter Jack? Don’t you like your game anymore?” Ianto taunted.

“No. Not now I smell like it,” Jack growled playfully “I am getting you back for this Ianto Jones.”

“Only if you can catch me first old man!” Ianto smirked before taking off out the door, Jack swore loudly and dashed off after him leaving everything where it had landed. He knew it was likely by the time they got back the girls would have already cleaned up after them, they were quite effective and Jack made a mental not to give them some extra money for it.

Racing after Ianto through the hotel he was relieved to note that the Welshman was sticking to the back corridors where the guests never went and it didn’t really matter if the staff saw them running around like children in a five star hotel. It also meant that when he caught Ianto there were plenty of dark little hidey holes he could drag the younger man into to get his revenge.

\----------

Ianto lay exhausted and sated with his head on Jack’s chest listening to the older man’s heart beating a steady rhythm beneath his ear. Jack’s fingers were trailing lazily up and down his back.

“Jack I’ve mastered just about everything now, haven’t I?”

“Mmm Hmm,” Jack confirmed lazily.

“Tomorrow I need you to work on my sense of smell then,” Ianto replied and he felt Jack’s fingers pause on his back

“You know what happened last time.”

“We found out we could be together without any fears.”

“I hate it when you do that,” Jack muttered.

“What?” Ianto asked in fake innocence.

“You know damn well what. Manipulating me with words like that, especially with that sleepy sexy growl you get when you’re like this.”

Ianto chuckled the warm air puffing against Jack’s chest making him smile.

“Okay, but I’ll come up with a different way to do it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you Jack,”

“You’re welcome Yan,”


	17. Chapter Sixteen

Ianto watched as Jack placed a small box with the hotel’s shop’s logo on the side.

“What on earth have you got in there?”

“I’ve worked it out another way, here put this on,” Jack said handing Ianto a blindfold.

Ianto smirked at the material in his hands, “I’m sure it’s more fun if someone else does it,” he smirked slipping the material around his head as Jack gently growled at him.

Ianto listened as Jack opened the box and there was a soft clinking of glass as Jack placed thing on the table.

“Okay Ianto breathe deep and tell me what you can smell.” Jack said holding up a glass bottle in front of Ianto’s blindfolded face. They were all incense bottles but he hadn’t opened any of them so they still had their seals from the shop meaning no 21st century human could smell them, but he and Ianto would be able to.

Ianto frowned a little as he concentrated focusing on the faint smell coming through the plastic seal.

“Lavender?”

“Yep, okay ay next one,” Jack smiled swapping the bottle for another.

“Sandalwood,”

“Patchouli,”

“Rosemary,”

“Lily,”

“Vanilla,” Ianto got all of them spot on every time until Jack had been through all thirteen of the bottles he’d collected from the gift shop where they’d be going back to once he had finished.

“I think it’s safe to say that you’ve mastered that senses as well,” Jack grinned

“Does that mean I can come back to work tomorrow?” Ianto asked a little too eagerly. As much as he’d loved spending time here with Jack, especially since they’d healed their relationship he was going a little stir crazy.

“You start back tomorrow; Tosh has already reactivated all of your codes and access levels.” Jack explained.

Ianto grinned in Jack’s direction, still blindfolded though his other senses told him exactly where the other man was.

“So is that all of them?” Ianto asked.

“Yeah that’s it; you can take the blindfold off now,”

“So what else can I smell?” Ianto asked and Jack frowned in confusion there was nothing else in the room that he could get a strong enough scent from that Ianto would pick up, he had everything removed when he’d first brought Ianto here. He’d also been through the room earlier to make sure there was nothing new around to interfere with their training.

“What does is smell like?”

“Like, a warm breeze coming off the beach, spices with a hint of something else something I can’t describe,” Ianto murmured clearly liking the smell as he stood up to follow it. Jack let him go thinking it was a good exercise for him and went back to packing the bottles carefully into the box so they didn’t break before he got them back to the shop. Suddenly he felt Ianto bump into him from behind, the younger man leaning forward until his nose was just about pressed behind Jack’s ear.

“Hmm Jack, it’s you,” Ianto whispered pulling off his blindfold to stare at the older man a slight blush across his cheeks.

“I’ve never heard my pheromones described before.” Jack mused pulling Ianto easily down into his lap grinning in amusement as Ianto blushed even more, “Normally I’m just told I smell good.”

“You do, I haven’t focused on them like that before. After this happened I tried to ignore the smell because we still weren’t comfortable with each other for a while then. And recently... well you’ve kept be pretty distracted when I’ve been close enough to pick up on them so I really wasn’t paying attention,” Ianto shrugged.

“I’m sure I can go back to distracting you if you’d like,” Jack smirked.

Ianto looked thoughtful for a moment. “Jack, are 51st century pheromones one of the things I’ve developed?” Ianto asked curiously.

“Oh yes,” Jack grinned making a show or burrowing his nose under Ianto’s chin and breathing deeply.

“What do I smell like then?” Ianto asked curiously, running his hand through Jack’s hair as the older immortal still had his nose pressed to Ianto’s neck.

“Like the Welsh countryside, like fresh damp grass and wood fires and something I just can’t describe, like you smelt on me. Something so tempting and so very you, because that smell you just can’t describe is the individual, it’s unique to them; it’s you.” Jack replied breathing deeply and relaxing into Ianto’s embrace as they moved to the sofas and wrapped themselves around each other content to just be in each other’s company.

“Well you have always said that I’m Welsh through and through,” Ianto murmured happily his smile widening as Jack chuckled into his neck, pressing a kiss to his pulse point as he snuggled contently into his partner’s arms and began to doze happily.

Ianto sighed in content and for the first time since Canary Warf he felt at peace and really truly happy.


	18. Epilogue

Tosh looked up from her work as the proximity alarms sounded, announcing there was someone on their way down. There was only one person that it could be and they all knew it. Gwen came out of the kitchen where she was fixing her lunch and leant over the rail so she could see the door. Owen came up the steps of the autopsy bay pulling off his gloves and dropping them into the bin beside his desk as he casually perched against the side to wait. Lastly Jack bounded out of his office where he’d been trying to catch up on his paper work and stopped at the stairs leading from the main floor to the hub door.

The door rolled back to reveal one Ianto Jones, dressed impeccably in one of his suits. Even though they’d all seen him just yesterday it was as if he’d been gone for months. Watching him step back into the hub, finally back to the man their friend had been before the Cyberwoman had gotten loose. He had a bit more confidence and an air of peace around him but it was like he had finally come home to them.

“Bout time you got back. Gwen’s coffee is absolute shit!” Owen grouched.

“Hey!” Gwen protested and Jack threw him an annoyed look at getting the first words out.

“Apparently you still can’t clean up after yourself either,” Ianto snorted looking around the hub in amusement. It wasn’t that bad, they had all made an effort to keep the place at least a little tidy in his absence.

He scanned the hub looking at them all in turn until his eyes finally landed on Jack who was the closest and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Jack smiled back at him though neither man knew quite what to say to each other, do they continue on the way they had spent the time of Ianto’s recovery and training? Do they get to keep that closeness that had developed or would they have to go back to being employer and employee?

Tosh seeing the awkwardness between the two men decided to help them out a little, “So, Ianto how are you feeling? What’s it feel like to be back?”

“Good, the hub’s going to take a few days to get used to... everything’s so.... overwhelming,” Ianto replied screwing up his nose a little.

“It’s something you’ll get used to in time,” Jack smiled moving down to Ianto and after a brief pause he pulled the younger man into his embrace.

“Time is certainly something I have enough of now,” Ianto replied quietly to Jack.

“And I’ll be here to help you every step of the way,” Jack replied pressing his lips to Ianto’s, not caring about the others as he kissed him.

 

FIN


End file.
